Much like the game and it's mix of hope and despair my mind is filled with a combination of feelings both contradictory but that are also completely symbiotic.
A lot of this conflict within myself about thoughts on this game have had me boil them down to "this game isn't made precisely for my desires".
I appreciate everything it does but am somehow annoyed by a lot of the things I actually think are really clever.
Plot wise at points I feel it goes too far for my personal tastes but also is "just mad enough".
Monokuma - the mascot bear is both a character I love and hate. Each time they had a voice line or broke the flow of the story I disliked. I expected them to grow on me and really they didn't but some how I still was happy to see them.
Mechanically, I love the ways this game breaks down - breaking down arguments. I also found it tedious.
"Truth bullets" is a fun mechanic on paper but in play feels like it can sometimes drag and makes me yearn for a simple conversation wheel.
Although as soon as those thoughts enter my brain, before I've even typed out the words another part goes "but then the game would just be a plain VN" which although I appreciate I think I need more "game" than just that.
If I was explaining this game in a school trial and why I think you should play it "no you're wrong" would be shouted at me a million times because everything I want to say I also feel I want to contradict.
Overall it is good. The set up, the places the story goes, they can be exciting, they can be clever, but sometimes they can be obvious and cliché.
The characters are the same, I can respect the level of "tropieness" they hit because of the 'Ultimate Students' set up but sadly it can create characters that'll make you groan and click through faster each time they're on screen.
The investigations are good, on occasion you will most likely see the answer much further ahead than you can reveal it in game and this will add to the tedium.
At it's higher points you'll think you've seen something and if you have or haven't doesn't matter because a new plot point will unfold that changes your thoughts and at best pleasantly surprises you.
Going in I hoped that Danganronpa being the series in this genre I've heard the most about would be as high on my list of personal favourites as any of the Zero Escape games and sadly it isn't.
Returning to the start of this, I guess Zero Escape is made more for my desires.
Maybe I'll never find a VN series that I love as much as those games but maybe after a trilogy of these I'll change my mind.
A lot of this conflict within myself about thoughts on this game have had me boil them down to "this game isn't made precisely for my desires".
I appreciate everything it does but am somehow annoyed by a lot of the things I actually think are really clever.
Plot wise at points I feel it goes too far for my personal tastes but also is "just mad enough".
Monokuma - the mascot bear is both a character I love and hate. Each time they had a voice line or broke the flow of the story I disliked. I expected them to grow on me and really they didn't but some how I still was happy to see them.
Mechanically, I love the ways this game breaks down - breaking down arguments. I also found it tedious.
"Truth bullets" is a fun mechanic on paper but in play feels like it can sometimes drag and makes me yearn for a simple conversation wheel.
Although as soon as those thoughts enter my brain, before I've even typed out the words another part goes "but then the game would just be a plain VN" which although I appreciate I think I need more "game" than just that.
If I was explaining this game in a school trial and why I think you should play it "no you're wrong" would be shouted at me a million times because everything I want to say I also feel I want to contradict.
Overall it is good. The set up, the places the story goes, they can be exciting, they can be clever, but sometimes they can be obvious and cliché.
The characters are the same, I can respect the level of "tropieness" they hit because of the 'Ultimate Students' set up but sadly it can create characters that'll make you groan and click through faster each time they're on screen.
The investigations are good, on occasion you will most likely see the answer much further ahead than you can reveal it in game and this will add to the tedium.
At it's higher points you'll think you've seen something and if you have or haven't doesn't matter because a new plot point will unfold that changes your thoughts and at best pleasantly surprises you.
Going in I hoped that Danganronpa being the series in this genre I've heard the most about would be as high on my list of personal favourites as any of the Zero Escape games and sadly it isn't.
Returning to the start of this, I guess Zero Escape is made more for my desires.
Maybe I'll never find a VN series that I love as much as those games but maybe after a trilogy of these I'll change my mind.